Snap-hook



(No. Model.)

'A N. BRAGG.

Snap Hook.

' No. 238,209. Patented March mass.

UNITED STATES PATENT Frien ANDREW N. BRAGG, OF PINE MEADOW, CONNECTICUT.

SNAP-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 238,209, dated March 1, 1881. Application filed June 28, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom at may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW N. BRAGG, of Pine Meadow, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Snap-Hooks, and in the method of manufacturing and assembling the parts thereof, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of the same, in which-- Figure l is a perspective view of the body of the snap-hook detached. Fig. 2 is a view of the tongue constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 3 is a view of the spring. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the snap-hook with the parts assembled in place, one side of the body of the hook being removed to show the interior. Fig. 5 is a plan of the under side of the hook with the several parts in position.

The object of my present invention is to avoid the necessity of closing the sides of the mortise in the body of a snap-hook by a vise or otherwise to hold the tongue with its inclosed spring in place upon its pivot, incident to the present construction of this class of snap-hooks; and my invention consists in a tongue havingits heel or rear end provided with an open socket to adapt the tongue to be located over the spring after thelatter is placed on its pivot, the lower portion of the side wallof the socket bein gcutaway,so as toform aprojectin g lip, which is rendered malleable, and is provided with a notch for the passage of, and a guide for the straight end of, the spring, which bears on the heel of the hook, said lip, after the tongue is in place, being bent up against, or in proximity to, the coiled portion of the spring, in order thereby to retain the tongue around the spring on its pivot, the side wall, of the socket having no opening for the end of the pivot, and no closing of the sides of the body to bring the end of the pivot into contact with the opposite side being required to retain the tongue in its proper position, my improved construction admitting of the ready union and removal of the parts by simply bending and unbending of the malleable lip.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings, or represents the body of the snap-hook, formed integral therewith, and I) the loop for the strap, the body of the hook being provided with a longitudinal mortise, c, for the reception of the rear or heel of the tongue d.

fis a lug or projection, formed integral with one of the sides of the body, and extends only partially across the mortise c, this lug serving as a pivot, on which is located a coiled spring, g, one end of which bears on the floor of the mortise and the other end on the under side of the tongue d, whereby the spring is made to press the point of the tongue into contact with the point of the hook. The tongue is peculiarly constructed and treated in itsapplication to and location within thehook. Said tongue has at its rear or heel a socket or re cess, h, for the reception of the spring 9, one side of the socket being fully open and the other side nearly closed, being provided with a wall, 71, cut away sufficiently at its lower side, '5, to form a projecting lip, j, which is rendered malleable, and is designed to be closed down upon the helical part of the spring, as seen in Fig. 4. At one side of the lip j is formed a notch or shoulder, is, for the passage of that end of the spring whichbears on the floor of the mortise 0, the notch serving to guide and keep it in'place. I

In assembling the parts, the spring is first placed on the lug or pivot f and the tongue then pushed'upward and forward in the mortise and over the spring, the width of the socket h corresponding exactly with. the width of the space between the sides of the mortise to allow of the ready location of the spring and tongue, after which the malleable lip j is bent up around the helical part of the spring, the spring holding the tongue, and the lug or pivot f holding the spring. The side wall, 2', as before stated, does not extend continuously down to the lower periphery of the socket, for the reason that the lip could not be bent up around the spring; but this wall is not provided with a circular hole for the passage of the pivot f, the latter being of sufficient length to hold the spring, and the spring keeping the tongue in place. Consequently no necessity exists for closing the sides of the mortise (to cause the pivot to pass through a hole in the heel of the tongue) incident to the construc- 01, having a socket, h, and a side wall, t, cut tion of snap-hooks described in United States away at its bottom, '5, to form a lip, j, which Patent No. 47,764. is adapted to be bent, and is provided with a 15 Besides the aforesaid advantage arisingfrom notch, 70, in combination with a coiled spring, 5 the use of a tongue constructed in accordance g, and a snap-hook body, a, provided with a with my invention, the several parts can be pivot, f, when constructed and arranged to opmore readily assembled, and as the malleable erate as and for the purpose described.

lip is accessible it may if desired be bent back into its normal positioii, in order to detach and ANDREW BRAGG' 10 remove them. Witnesses:

I claim R0131. B. SMITH,

As an improvement in snap-hooks,the tongue MINNIE M. SMITH. 

